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Zhi Wildmane
History Within the city of Haven exists a community of truly interesting fellows. The League of Excellence are worshipers of Kurgess, who believe that through physical perfection they can reach the same godhood reached by the deity they worship. To fulfill this goal, they live lives of strict diets and exercise schedules. Some locals call them a clergy, religious order, or even a cult. While none of these descriptors are incorrect, the Excellents lack the formality one would expect from a religious organisation. It has a single head named the Supreme, and a number of senior followers titled the Exemplars. These are more like mentors and guides than they are strict leaders. Many Excellents were wanderers, spending only weeks or days per year at Haven, with the rest of their lives used to fight evil across the realm, along with visiting local sporting events and tournaments. Zhi was left with the Excellents as an orphan and grew up within the order. Raised on good food habits and a healthy love for physical exercise, she was always healthy and hale. Growing up in an order consisting primarily of muscular men in a constant state of friendly (and sweaty) competition had the expected effect on the young girl, and she always enjoyed contests with her peers. Her talents were in cardio instead of power, and even as she grew up with a well-endowed and well-defined body, her agility remained intact. She gained some combat experience on short forays with senior Excellents, though her solo combat experience remains limited. Not everyone within the Excellents was all happy and friendly, of course. The group's ultimate goal was godhood, and though none of the Excellents had ever reached that point, there were members who looked at their peers as if they were rivals rather than allies in their quest. While competition was encouraged, there were often repercussions for attempts to undermine friends. Zhi, raised as an Excellent, always looked down on these men and women who would use their companions as stepping stones. While many such were thrown out of the Excellents, some were able to hide their rancor towards their allies - until that festering wound finally burst. One night, when the Supreme and several Exemplars were out to visit, bless and partake in a massive tournament in Dragonburgh, violence broke out within the halls of the League of Excellence. A group of dissidents, gathered in secret, carried out their foul plan; eliminating all those on the quest to godhood they believed unworthy. The attacks started in the night, and many of the loyal Excellents were slain or maimed while asleep or in the process of waking. Some fled, some fought back. Casualties were extreme before the traitors were finally pushed back. Rather than struggle for their lives, the traitors fled through hidden halls and sewer entrances within the temple and were lost to the shadows. Zhi had almost been slain in the fighting, having been saved only by the intervention of one of the remaining Exemplars. As the League of Excellents recovered from their wounds, Zhi found that the treason had caused a lust for revenge to fester in her heart as well. She wished for experience to fight, so she could one day hunt down the men who had harmed her friends, her family. She would not allow backstabbers and scoundrels to achieve godhood; she would reach divinity herself, one way or another. Over her travels, Zhi made a few allies and a lot of enemies. Zhi was one of many heroes fighting the formidable Thii and their human followers of Salvation. She even had the displeasure of running into Darwin, Salvation's lord and master. Around the same time she had several run-ins with the Cult of the Machine and formed a personal distaste for their leader, Aeternia Orichalkos. Both the Thii and the Cult of the Machine believed in improvement of the body not through hard work and personal effort, but genetic alteration and machinery respectively. As a result, her ideology clashed unforgivably with the two groups, drawing greater fervor out of her while fighting. Hardship and conflict drew power from deep inside of Zhi, awakening a potent and hard-to-control cocktail of arcane magic and rage inside of her. Her years of martial discipline allowed her to keep the power within in check. While her rage is less potent than that of other Bloodragers, it also does not affect her mind as intensely. There was no sign of unnatural ancestry either - only the mysterious favor of fate itself. Now an experienced adventurer, augmented by both the strength of her body and the innate power of her blood, Zhi faced her first true challenge. A temple of Kurgess had fallen from the path, masters now teaching their students to attain power for the sake of oppressing the weak. Zhi decided to visit them and challenge the master, aiming to convince them of the truth of Kurgess's teachings through the only medium they would understand: power. Zhi was greeted by an old teacher by the name of Ibushi, a senior member of the temple that remained loyal to Kurgess. After testing her via his own students, he took her to the fallen master, a man named Tanahashi. Though Tanahashi put up a good fight, he was no good match for Zhi, leading to his fall at her hands. The troubles were not over, though, as Tanahashi revealed there was a figure controlling him from the shadows. This figure turned out to be a man by the name of Master Rath, a former master of the temple who had fallen to the temptations of evil. Though Rath at first overwhelmed Zhi, Ibushi's words allowed her to draw power from within her she had never touched before. Fueled by this divine inspiration, Zhi turned the tables on Rath, defeating him and finally freeing the temple. Though most of the newfound power faded after the original rush, Zhi was left empowered and filled with new confidence. After defeating Rath, word of her actions spread. Having already accrued no small degree of fame through her adventures, Zhi soon found herself with a large group of followers - primarily faithful of Kurgess inspired by her leadership and martial warriors admiring her prowess. Though she had her followers, she lacked a place to put them. As the group grew, Zhi sent out requests to townships and city-states, asking to settle a temple in their bounds. Instead she got an offer from the Ohanakoku Shengese People's Protectorate, offering her a place for her as-of-yet nameless order within the former pirate's cove of Booty Bay. Additionally, she would be offered leadership of the town guard. In return, she and her followers promised to defend the town with their lives. Now no longer a mere wandering adventurer, but now bound by both responsibility and her following, Zhi was ready to face the next chapter of her life. She served as commander to her own military group, simply named Zhi's Volunteers, during the Thii war and for a year after, officially earning the Ohanan nationality. During this time, Zhi faced numerous deadly threats, including the dragon-like construct known as Greed, a deadly Thii Alpha whose magical influence almost cost her her life, and an army of fey creatures come to act as vanguard for their enraged goddess. During this time she gained a great deal of so-called mythic power. While she herself believes she gained this through self-improvement as the League of Excellents teach, no small amount of this power was absorbed from the deadly monstrosities she faced and slew. Zhi's greatest surge of mythic power came while investigating the disappearance of a number of Egronian villagers. What had started as a relatively everyday search soon spiraled into chaos as Zhi and her group of allies discovered the influence of a titan cult attempting to free their dark lord, Kronkite the First Titan. While the group managed to slay many of the jotun attempting to free Kronkite and even rediscovered ancient secrets left behind by the gods themselves, they were unable to stop Kronkite from being freed in the end. As Kronkite broke from his prison, a great surge of divine energy was released. The prison demiplane Kronkite had just shattered had been crafted by the hands of the gods themselves, and by its destruction their power was released. Zhi absorbed a large amount of this mythic power - and within herself awoke the spark of divinity she had been seeking for so long. Worshiped under the title of The Hand of Providence, she now provides luck and protection to all those who fight for the sake of good. Appearance Zhi stands several inches taller than the average human, with a musculature many would be jealous of, and those who know about athletes can see they are meant for endurance and explosive force in equal measure. Her hair lives up to the title - raven black strands hanging in a poofy mane down to her waist. The bush of black turns a golden blonde whenever she taps into the holy power infusing her body. No matter how much she tries to comb or take care of it, her martial lifestyle means it's hard for her to keep it down for long. Zhi has a small beauty mark under her left eye. Her eyes are red, topped with thin black eyebrows. Her usual outfit is chest wrappings, sandals, a pair of simple black pants, and a ragged old blue coat which holds most of her personal items. She also carries a backpack with a bedroll and other outdoors necessities when adventuring. Since attaining leadership of her nameless order and the fortress in Kaikin, Zhi has also obtained a more fancy outfit, consisting of a brocaded yellow coat which still leaves a fair amount of cleavage open. The legwear that comes with the coat is a pair of well-made pants, dyed a deep red and loose for freedom of movement. Supple brown boots top the whole outfit off. She wears a gem-studded headband around her head and a few pieces of jewelery. A simple but well-made cloak hangs around her shoulders. Personality Zhi is a woman filled with unbridled positivity. No matter how dire the situation, she believes there is a way out as long as she keeps looking. Every problem can be overcome, any challenge beaten. The League of Excellents doesn't take half measures - Zhi herself eternally strives for divinity through excellence. She's friendly in a boisterous sort of way, making bold claims which she 100% believes she will be able to follow up on. Her primary faith is Kurgess, particularly the facet of him that is the god of self-improvement. She believes with her whole heart that one can only reach perfection through their own body. Tools are fine for this, as long as they remain tools. As such, mechanical augmentation, genetic manipulation or permanent magical changes are all things she looks down on unless she has crafted them with her own hands, such as magical tattoos. She has very little respect for those who use these non-natural methods for personal improvement. Conversely Zhi can be quite aggressive, especially if threatened. She has little patience for those who would use violence to push their viewpoint like Salvation or the Machine Cult and is more than willing to dole out in kind. She has a particularly big mouth in fights, often talking before she thinks, actively insulting and challenging her opponents while loudly praising the actions of her allies. Zhi also has some personality aspects of a typical blood knight archetype. She takes joy out of combat, especially against those who seek to violently push an opposed viewpoint. The tension of battle is accompanied by a broad grin; falling enemies and cracking bones with loud laughter. Friends & Allies Aelfyra: Aelfyra and Zhi decided to travel together after spending some time together. Though the two often share bed and blanket to shelter against the cold or the loneliness of the night, the two have a platonic skinship as opposed to a sexual or romantic relationship. Zhi has promised to protect Aelfyra from danger, and considers the Musetouched Aasimar a trustworthy ally in a fight. Ibushi's Temple: Zhi freed Ibushi's temple of Kurgess from a corrupt teacher and the fallen master supporting him from the shadows, earning Ibushi's gratefulness and the holy blessing of Kurgess. Ohanakoku Shengese People's Protectorate: Saving Ibushi's temple supplemented Zhi's fame enough to gather a following of her own. Word went out that her order required a place to stay, Zhi was offered a fortress in an Ohanan port town. In return, she would take leadership of the town guard and defend the city in Ohana's name. Enemies The Thii: Zhi is a defender of the weak and a fighter for good. As such, the ravenous Thii are enemies to be slain, and threats to drive off. As a fairly fanatical follower of Kurgess, Zhi believes that the natural body must be sharpened like a weapon for physical perfection to get reached. As such, the Thii focus on assimilation of foreign DNA makes her diametrically opposed to their method of existence. She believes them to be abominations due to their constantly-shifting genetic make-up. Salvation: As a cult that worships the Thii, Zhi has a deep-seated dislike for Salvation. The fact they are regular humanoids following the abominations of their own free will only disgusts her further. She does not wish them dead quite as bad as the Thii, as she believes in their chance of redemption, she will also not hesitate to seek them out and destroy them without mercy. The Order of the Machinist: Though they do not worship all-devouring death-locusts, the Machine Cult is little better than Salvation on Zhi's eyes. Those who have already sacrificed their humanity for mechanical enhancement are pitiable beasts indeed, for they have forever given up Kurgess's blessing and the ability to reach the perfection Zhi herself so desires. Master Rath: A fallen martial arts master and former follower of Kurgess. Rath abandoned Kurgess's path to accrue power so he could lord over the weak. Rath tried to corrupt one of the god's temples and in turn attracted the attention one of Kurgess's faithful; Zhi. After an intense battle in which Zhi almost fell, she awakened a great power and broke Rath in both body and spirit. Aspirations Zhi wishes to reach divinity through pure physical perfection. She has no chosen domain she seeks to embody, but her adventuring seems to be pointing her towards becoming a goddess of surviving against all odds and overcoming seemingly-impossible challenges. Category:Player Characters